Instant reaction to the Nuggets-Danilo Gallinari news

* You got to credit the Nuggets front office for recognizing what they had on their hands – locking up Gallo and, arguably, not overpaying (four years, $42 million plus incentives). The guy is only 23. No – no! – he won’t be Carmelo Anthony. But he can be a 18-20 ppg guy who will hustle, drive hard to the basket AND as we’ve seen this year, he’s a better one-on-one defender than people realized — notably coach George Karl, who has gushed about his defense lately.

* For what it’s worth, Gallo seems to be enjoying his teammates. He seems to have a good rapport with a lot of the guys in the locker room (and in December he told me that Nene was one of his closer friends). Gallo (@gallinari8888) often tweets photos of he and, say, Rudy Fernandez or Kosta Koufos on the team bus.

* Denver Post columnist Mark Kiszla has recently started tweeting (@markkiszla). Here are some of his Gallo-y tweets from today.

RT @markkiszla News: #Nuggets trying to sign Gallinari to 4y, $40 m extension. Views: Small price to pay to help us forget Melodrama.

RT @markkiszla I like Gallo. A lot. Multiple All-Star Games in his future. But to say Gallo tougher (Rebs) or more unselfish (Assts) than Melo? Puh-leez.

* Here’s a big feature I did on Gallinari entering this season, which features a telling quote from teammate Andre Miller: “He’s a go-to player — he has to be,” said Nuggets point guard Andre Miller. “He can get to the free-throw line, can get to the basket, can shoot the ball, and he’s earned the respect of the players around the league. So when you get that reputation, it comes with the territory.”

Chris Dempsey arrived at The Denver Post in Dec. 2003 after seven years at the Boulder Daily Camera, where he primarily covered the University of Colorado football and men's basketball teams. A University of Colorado-Boulder alumnus, Dempsey covers the Nuggets and also chips in on college sports.